Well, here’s a good example of the difference a Democratic Senate makes. Yesterday, the Senate voted, essentially on party lines (Arlen Specter was the only Republican to join with the Democrats), to give airport screeners the right to unionize. It was completely absurd to argue, as Republicans did, that allowing the workers to unionize would endanger national security. Oh, please, the best way to guarantee national security is to not invade and destroy countries whose people, and their supporters, might feel a bit pissed off and, then, want to take action…you think? Here’s a little of the story via the Associated Press as printed by The New York Times:

The Senate voted Tuesday to give 45,000 airport screeners the same union rights as border patrol, customs and immigration agents, despite a White House threat to veto it.

The vote, 51 to 46, rejected an amendment by Senator Jim DeMint,
Republican of South Carolina, which would have removed the union rights
from a broad antiterrorism bill to carry out recommendations of the
Sept. 11 commission previously rejected by Congress.

The House passed a similar bill with the same union provision for
airport screeners in an indication of organized labor’s strength with
Democrats now running Congress.

Republicans vowed to remove the provision when negotiators sit down to merge the House and Senate bills.

Oh, go ahead: let them try to remove it or let Bush try to veto the provision. I don’t think voters will buy that.